Category: Open Business

We’ve seen an alarming evaporation of trust across all institutions, reaching the lows of the recession in 2009. Trust in government, business, media and non-profits is below 50% in two-thirds of countries, including the U.S, U.K, Germany and Japan. There has been a startling decrease in trust. Richard Edelman The annual Edelman Trust Barometer is always fascinating reading ...

What does having an open social media policy say about a company? For me , it says nothing about social media and everything about trust. Trust in your people – you believe that they come to work to do good things , not wreck your reputation. Trust in yourself – you are an open business ...

“Do your customers agree with what you are proposing?” was one of the questions our Board asked me this week. My response went something like this: “I don’t know. We’ve listened to what they have told us. We’ve observed how they find things difficult to use. And then we’ve tried to create something they will ...

It’s not often you get the chance to go back to the start. To redesign your customer experience from the beginning of the relationship About a year ago we started talking to customers about their part in our service offer. We had worked with them to develop a new Bromford Offer – based on the experiences of thousands of customers. It had ...

Building Stronger Communities Debate The following is an open transcript of the Twitter/Facebook and Customer Influence Meeting Debate regarding Bromford’s response to the civil unrest and riots that broke out in parts of the UK in Summer 2011. The summary conclusions reached by our customers were: 1 – Customers feel that Bromford’s approach of ...

“What is a smartphone anyway?” I was asked by a colleague this week. I broke into a cold sweat. Especially as it was during a meeting about digital inclusion. If this is the kind of question you hear asked often, you need to start worrying. Now. I love working in housing. Genuinely. But whilst we ...

Auditors arrived today to look at our Customer Experience Measurement Programme. I’m not sure what they are up to. I probably should have paid more attention. I generally tend to approach new people I meet from a position of trust. Auditors , on the other hand , occupy a place in my mind with small children , teetotalers, ...

For me – an open business is one which conducts itself transparently and isn’t afraid to share what its senior leaders are thinking with its customers and its colleagues. The best idea’s and answers rarely come from executives but usually from listening to those closest to the product and closest to customers. Here is a ...

A customer mailed me last week about our latest reports. Here’s a snippet… ” I think these reports are largely a waste of time. The first priority of the tenant is their own home. As I have said before, if there is something wrong you will hear about it soon enough. Beyond that I doubt whether ...

CUSTOMER INFLUENCE GROUP NEIGHBOURHOOD OFFER GROUP PRIORITIES JULY/AUGUST 2011 How are we performing right now? At present, 89.2% customers would recommend their neighbourhood as a place to live. The safety/appearance of a neighbourhood has dropped from to 8.6 out of 10 to 7.6. Vicky Green advised that this is due to a change in the ...

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About Me

I'm learner, sharer and Innovation Coach at Bromford.
As coach it's my job to develop a lab based approach to product and service development and to ensure a culture of creativity within the business.
We have a track record in project delivery and service change that crosses all disciplines and has resulted in numerous acknowledgements and awards.
I'm a regular contributor to forums , think-tanks , and research reports and often a speaker or advisor at conferences and events.
I'm a huge enthusiast of social leadership and never far away from social media.
Contact me at paul.taylor@bromford.co.uk